Everyone has pushed on as best they can over the years, despite the occasional tug of the heart, the tears, the emptiness and the confusion.

“It’s good to be around people who understand what you’re going through,” Myers said. “Sometimes you need the space. Sometimes you need the company. And sometimes you don’t even know.”

Christopher Dakota Myers was 19 when his car ran off the road and crashed in Southern California. That was five years ago, Feb. 16, 2012, around Speedweeks, the traditional start of another NASCAR season. It also sadly was the beginning of a new reality for Chris Myers and his family.

NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway

(Roger Simmons)

Myers -- a familiar face for the FOX Sports team in Daytona and beyond -- has suffered in silence publicly for the most part. But he has felt the loving touch of his extended NASCAR family, and other sports celebrities, through the years.

Hendrick -- whose son Ricky died in an airplane crash in Virginia in 2004 -- sent a private plane so people from FOX could get to the funeral in California. NASCAR president Mike Helton told him that whenever he was ready to go back to work, he could bring his entire family with him.

Through the tears, Hendrick and Myers bonded in a broken-hearts club no parent should ever experience. They had breakfast together at Daytona on Friday in what’s become a tradition among good friends.

”You have to have a purpose in life to go on, and sometimes you need someone who has been through it to tell you how they’ve found purpose and a reason to keep going,” Hendrick said.

“How to get through birthdays and how to get through Christmas and holidays. It helps to talk because you can open up and say things and share things you wouldn’t share with an average person. They’re not there. They haven’t experienced this.”

They laugh. They cry. They help each other heal.

Hendrick has bonded with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for similar reasons after Dale Earnhardt died on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001. That was the day Myers was starting his first season with FOX and NASCAR broadcasts.

Myers is in the midst of completing a resume-stuffing trifecta over the last month. The Super Bowl, when he broke through the scrum to grab Tom Brady for an emotional post-game presser. The Westminster Dog Show, where the winner, Rumor (a German Shepherd), was less communicative. From Dogs to Daytona.

But this week is always bittersweet.

“I had to drive by the same spot where his accident was,” Myers said. “I asked Dale Earnhardt Jr. about his dad afterwards dealing with that, and of course having to relate to it in a different way my own emotions.”

Myers, 57, has found ways to channel those emotions into good things. Christopher Myers was a dog lover who volunteered at an animal shelter in Agoura Hills, Calif.

Myers and his wife Sue has honored their son’s legacy, owning three rescue dogs -- a Jack Russell and a chihuahua and a mixed breed. And they continue to support the shelter (Lifeanimalrescue.com).

“It’s sad and tragic but we have to go on,” Myers said. “We have to go on to help each other. Rick Hendrick had to go on to help Junior, to help me. We’re all intertwined in this. You feel it in moments like this.”

He chokes back tears again.

“The FOX Sports family was and still is so incredibly supportive,” he said. “Every part of our FOX crew that I work with made that cross-country flight on the Hendrick Motorsports plane. Even though it was a blur, it was comforting to see them there, just as I see them every February.”

Hendrick is first, forevermore, offering another comforting embrace.

“It’s good to be around people who feel what you feel,” Hendrick said, “but it’s not a fraternity you want to be in.”

CAPTION

Former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier talks about taking over as head coach of Orlando Alliance of the Alliance of American Football league.

Former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier talks about taking over as head coach of Orlando Alliance of the Alliance of American Football league.

CAPTION

Former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier talks about taking over as head coach of Orlando Alliance of the Alliance of American Football league.

Former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier talks about taking over as head coach of Orlando Alliance of the Alliance of American Football league.